Abstract

A standing mechanical wave in a solid rod about two meters long is to be used to drive and stabilize the output of two radio transmitters producing waves of about ten centimeters placed at either end. The standing mechanical wave, involving the travel of waves out and back, will not be sensitive to the absolute velocity of the laboratory. But the velocity of light, being c relative to the cosmos, the wavelengths emitted by the radio transmitters will be [], where v is the frequency and v the component of the absolute velocity in the direction of the rod. A detector whose position can be finely adjusted is to be placed between the two radio transmitters. The cosmic velocity component v can then be determined by noting the shift in position of the nodes in the standing wave interference pattern of the radio waves when the apparatus is rotated 180o. Considering the results as a function of the time of day and time of year, the magnitude and direction of the absolute velocity of the laboratory can be determined.